


Me Myself and a Few Spares in the Back

by Btw Where The Hell Are We (GrumpDerpShipping)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multiship, SHEITH - Freeform, SHIDGE, Shaladin - Freeform, Shatt, Shunk, for now it's fluff and shenanigans, idk I'll figure it out, like an abundance of shiros, maybe some nsfw in the future, multishiro, platonic shidge, possible shirocest(?), shallura - Freeform, shance, shotor, svance, too many shiros if you ask me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-29 00:41:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15061289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpDerpShipping/pseuds/Btw%20Where%20The%20Hell%20Are%20We
Summary: After passing a strange anomaly, the paladins begin detecting intruders on the ship. Are they friend? Foe? The only thing the team knows for sure is they’re awfully familiar. (takes place between S4 and S5 but contains S6 spoilers)





	1. Chapter 1

Keith let out a tense exhale as he set his feet onto the floor of the hanger. What he did in an attempt to save the others on Naxzela was starting to make him shake now that the adrenaline had worn off. His shoulders bolted up as a hand tapped his shoulder. “Hey Keith, you...okay?” Matt asked, the hand on his shoulder awkward and tentative. Matt was the only one that knew what Keith had been trying to do not more than a varga ago. Keith could only hope that he kept it that way.

“I’m fine...just got a little desperate in the moment..”  
Matt sighed but accepted the answer. “Let’s just get some rest, we had a long day…” Keith nodded and began to make his way towards the bridge.

“Good to see you again Keith, how’s the training been?” Shiro smiled as the two boys walked into the room.

“It’s going really well, but I kinda wish I could stay longer before I have to report back to Kolivan.” Keith returned the smile to his old friend before it dropped to a more concerned look. “So what are you gonna do with Lotor?”

“We’re keeping him detained for now.” Allura huffed as she joined the others in the room. “I don’t know what he’s planning but I don’t like it…”

Shiro turned to address the rest of the paladins, “We’ve all had a hard day but we accomplished one of our biggest victories yet. Let’s get some rest and deal with Lotor in the morning.” The others nodded and disbanded with passing greetings to Keith and Matt on their way to their rooms.

  
\-----------

“Ugh...where is it…” Lance groaned as he shuffled onto the bridge, did he leave it by his seat..? The gentle taps of his slippers on the metal floor were the only sound above the soft hum of the battleship crystal hanging above him, its dim glow illuminating the room just enough to see where he was going.

Lance clutched the edge of his bathrobe tight to his chest, peering around the room for his misplaced item. Out of desperation he dropped to his knees and began feeling around the floor surrounding his seat. “Come on...come on...yes!” Lance grinned as he sat up, proudly holding up a tube of moisturizer. He’d been in such a rush to get ready the previous morning he had applied it while preparing for their mission.

Lance pocketed the tube and stretched as he stood up, his back popping in few places as he nearly bent completely backward. As he turned to leave his eyes caught the display of the space surrounding them, a massive streak of white light stared back at him as the castle slowly drifted past it. It looked like a tear in the fabric of space itself. “Holy crow…”

Lance approached the monitor and stared in awe at the sight, only turning away to shield his eyes when even brighter flashes sparked from the tear. When he turned back one the sparks had separated from the tear and seemed to be headed straight for the ship! He involuntarily yelped and braced himself, bright light engulfing the room as he prepared for the hit, but it never came.

The room dimmed again, the blast passing through him like a ghost. As Lance calmed his heartbeat it was jolted back up to fast pace when an alarm sounded off from the castle. Moments later, Coran, Allura, Pidge, and Keith bolted into the room.

“Lance, what did you do?” Keith asked as Coran took his place at the console to check what had triggered the alarm.

“Wh-ME?! Why do you assume I did something?!” Lance whined with an offended glare.

“There’s an intruder in the castle! Wait, two. No, four? SEVEN!” Coran exclaimed, eyes flickering across the screen as more unidentified biorhythms appeared on the map of the ship, each in a different place that seemed impossible to get to from the outside of the ship.

Allura quickly gathered herself and turned to face the others. “Grab your bayards, quickly.” Pidge glanced around the room as the others left to grab their armor with barely a moment of hesitation.

“Wait, where’s Shiro?”

  
\-----------

Keith crept through the dark corridors, blade at the ready in his right hand. By now Hunk and Matt had also gotten up to help but Shiro had not. This wasn’t like him, something had to be wrong.

“You’ve got one nearby Keith. Stay sharp!” Keith quietly thanked Coran through his comm unit and braced the wall, shimmying along until he was close enough to peer around the corner. A figure stepped tentatively down the adjacent hallway, it was larger than Keith but not by much and he couldn’t see a weapon drawn.

“Hey!” Keith broke into a sprint towards the figure as it was alerted to Keith’s presence. The figure ducked out of the way of his blade and scrambled around the corner as Keith gave chase, the pounding of figure’s heavy boots making it easy for Keith to stay on him despite the darkness of the ship’s night cycle. The figure scrambled to a halt as it hit a dead end, Keith slowing down as he cornered them. “There’s nowhere left to run, just give it up.” Keith readied his blade, expecting retaliation.

“K...Keith..?” Keith stopped in his tracks, pulling his hood back and letting his mask reveal his face. As he stepped closer the figures featured became more defined, a strong jawline, broad shoulders, and a long black fringe hanging between soft, dark eyes filled with confusion yet relief at a familiar face.

“Shiro…?”

“KEITH LOOK OUT!” Before he could tear his eyes away from this other Shiro a large fist struck his jaw, he tumbled back only seeing blurs of a deep pink glow. As he stood back up he could hear a flurry of laser shots from down the adjacent hallway, it had to be Hunk.

As if on cue, the yellow paladin came into view, charging the other figure. It was another Shiro! This one, however, was dressed in his paladin armor, his fringe the familiar white that the team knew but something wasn’t right. His eyes were filled with madness and rage, a bright purple glow emanating from his pupils. His cyborg arm was larger, some of the metal plating gone and exposing the abundance of quintessence within.

A transparent blade formed on the front of his hand as he attacked Hunk, knocking his bayard away with only a few strikes. Hunk stumbled back and fell to the floor, surrendering to the twisted image of Shiro before him. The Shiro showed him mercy, not even addressing the Shiro trying to make himself as small as possible in the corner, as he retracted the blade and turned to Keith.

“Sorry Keith, you’re not getting away this time.” a sadistic smile cracked across his face as he held up his arm, charging some kind of laser in his palm. Keith found himself frozen in shock, unsure of how to process any of this, much less find a way to escape being blasted to dust.

Hunk glanced up from his place on the floor when he heard another pair of footsteps, a third figure stopped several feet away, flinging a meal armband across the hallway. The open armband hooked around the twisted Shiro’s arm and snapped shut as the two halves came together, locking automatically. The laser powered back down instantly, the energy dispersing into the air at a gradual rate.

The third figure panted heavily, collapsing to its knees as the twisted Shiro turned to snarl at him, showing off much sharper teeth than any normal human would possess. Before he could charge the first Shiro leaped out of hiding, grabbing the twisted Shiro’s wrist and using his body weight to knock him off balance, keeping him restrained on the floor. Hunk’s jaw hung loose but he quickly got up to help the black haired Shiro restrain him.

Keith finally got his feet to move forward, surveying the scene before him. The twisted Shiro struggled while the one who had saved him collapsed on the floor entirely.

As one would guess this one was a Shiro as well but this one was much more thin and unkempt. He wore dirty Galran slave garb and his tangled hair draped down to his upper back. He looked just like their Shiro had after returning to the castle…

Making sure the others had control of the twisted Shiro he approached the weaker one rolling him onto his back to be sure he was still breathing. “What is going on?” Keith muttered to himself as the weak Shiro passed out from exhaustion.

“Guys, we have three of them restrained, what’s like on your end?” Lance glanced around before answering Hunk.

“How did you get so many? I’ve got nothing on my end!”

“Now calm down, Lance. I still got four others on the radar. You’ll get your turn.” Coran said as he checked over the map.

“Okay but, guys, you are not going to believe who these are. I’m still trying to figure out how this is possi-”

Hunk’s message was muted by laser firing right past Lance’s head. He spun on his heel and fired back at the intruder, the brief flashes of gunfire being the only light source in the black hallway. Lance charged forward, hoping to be more accurate at close range, only to be kicked back against the wall once he got in close.

Lance winced from the hit but scrambled to aim his sniper, just as his opponents gun whirred in front of his head. Lance panted slightly, sweat forming on his brow in the silent and tense stalemate.

“Lance..?”

The paladin’s ears perked at a familiar accent, his bayard fell from his hands as he scrambled to remove his helmet and confirm his identity to the other.

“Sven?!” The man before him did the same, luscious black hair falling from the helmet as a bright grin crossed the man’s face.  
“Lance it is so good to see you! I didn’t recognize you at first in this dark hallway.” Lance’s heart pounded in his chest as he rose to his feet, pulling Sven into a hug.

“I was so worried about you! You got shot in the chest and it looked like you were dying and it was all my fault and-!” Lance covered his mouth, an embarrassed pink hue dusting across his face as he forced the tears pricking his eyes to retreat. “I mean uh...it’s great to see you too...” he chuckled nervously, hoping the outburst hadn’t made things awkward.  
Sven let out a loud laugh and pulled Lance back in for another friendly embrace.

“I’m fine Lance. Slav had me patched up in no time.” he grinned as he let go of the smaller man, simply overjoyed to see him again.

  
\-----------

  
“Lance? Lance! I could use some backup here! I’m trying to chase this one down!” Pidge groaned at the lack of response from her teammate. She launched off the floor, using short bursts from her jetpack to make her faster in order to make up for these pathetic excuses for legs. Her small stature was a nuisance on every level.

She turned the corner only to see the intruder she was chasing was out of sight. She huffed in annoyance and continued down the hallway, making wild guesses as to where it was going.

“Pidge? Did you need something?” she deadpanned at Lance’s voice.

“No, I lost track of it…” Pidge slowed her pace and sighed as she continued the search before catching onto the clashing sound of metal on metal down another hallway. She hadn’t lost them quite yet.

  
\-----------

Allura opened the door to the lounge, apparently, one of them had appeared in here and hadn’t left yet. How was that even possible? There wasn’t a way to just appear in this room.

She ducked behind the couch and readied her bayard, peeking out to see a hulking figure before her, covered in a dark cloak. Suddenly the figure turned, holding unsheathing a large sword and pointing it at Allura’s hiding place.

“Halt! Who goes there?” the voice was loud and mighty but still a bit difficult to take seriously. Allura poked her head up again and raised an eyebrow. The figure wore what appeared to be ancient Altean armor with the same white and gold color scheme and a scaley undersuit, the faint glow of the night cycle lights catching a silver headpiece that traced his forehead, making it sparkle. Was that...Shiro’s Monsters and Mana character??

“Shiro? What are you doing?” Allura fully got to her feet, horribly confused by this apparent sudden urge to roleplay.

“I am not Shiro. I am his twin brother, Jiro! For what purpose do you confront me young maiden?”

Allura deadpanned if this was the real Shiro she didn’t have time for these games and if it wasn’t she had too many questions to waste her time on. With a quick flick of her bayard, she tied up the paladin and pulled him to the floor. With the loud clang of metal armor and an over the top grunt of pain, she relaxed and reported yet another subdued Shiro to the others. Pidge responded swiftly after that.

“Guys I need backup if you can manage it. Come to my location immediately.”

\-----------

The hallways were a dark blur in the corners of his vision, right now Shiro could only focus on what was in front of him, ironically himself. This copy was dressed in his old casual clothes and was currently wandering the dark hallways, seemingly looking for the others. He was on edge, just as any Shiro would be in a situation with an unknown amount of threats if any, looking behind himself constantly and reacting to even the faintest of noises.

Shiro waited patiently, he just needed an opening to strike..and...now! Shiro darted from his position and charged the other Shiro but the other Shiro was quick to spot him and held his prosthetic arm up to counter him. The friction between the two weapons created a loud, unpleasant noise but neither backed down because of it.

They both pulled their arms away before attacking again, their two attacks canceling out and ending in another stalemate.

“Shiro??” Both turned at the sound of Pidge’s voice before turning back to try and take the other by surprise. Dammit! They were completely identical!

“Pidge! Help me out!”

“Attack him! He’s not the real me!”

Pidge held her bayard in front of her, her fingers hesitating from pulling the trigger. She couldn’t tell which Shiro was in the right if either of them were.

“Pidge!”

“Do it!”

Pidge sighed and closed her eyes, firing the grapple of her bayard, hitting one of the Shiro’s in the temple before it embedded itself in the wall. The other Shiro panted as his copy crumbled to the ground.

“Nice work Pi-” he vision went dark as Pidge retracted her bayard, hitting the other Shiro as it came back to her. She sighed as Matt came running up behind her

“Pidge, what happened?”

“Just help me tie them up, okay?”

\-----------

Keith paced the bridge as the other shared glances between each other and the six Shiro’s in various states of consciousness restrained on the floor. Lance and Sven entered the room and broke the silent tension.  
“Hey, sorry we’re late…” Lance’s sighed, having gotten turned around a few times on his way back.

“Why isn’t he restrained?” Keith snapped, slightly stressed over the situation.

“What? C’mon guys it’s Sven! We can trust him!” Lance whined slightly as he stepped forward to defend his friend.

“We can’t take any chances, Lance.” Keith huffed back, ignoring his childish tone.

Sven gave both of them a content smile. “It’s okay Lance. I’ll do it.” Sven walked in to join the line up of Shiro’s and settled down on his knees, letting Hunk handcuff him.

“Sorry man, nothing personal y’know...” Sven gave a knowing nod and did his best to make himself comfortable

“Uh guys, shouldn’t we have eight people here and not seven? I’m pretty sure one of these guys is our Shiro so aren’t we missing…” Matt’s words trailed off when the door opened again, one final Shiro stepping through.

His entire head of hair was as white as the brightest stars, his paladin armor was scratched and dirty, his artificial arm missing entirely. Everyone who wasn’t taken aback by his appearance raised their weapons, regardless no one’s eyes left the eighth Shiro. The white Shiro’s eyes scanned the room in confusion before his amber orbs finally found their way to Keith.

“Keith? Darling, is that you?” Lance only managed to let out a startled choke at those words.


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m sorry, but WHAT did you just call him?!” Pidge’s face broke into an amused grin as Keith started to blush.

The white-haired Shiro offered a puzzled look in return. “Is that a problem..?” He glanced back at Keith, stepping past the line up of restrained Shiro’s to examine him closely. Shiro slowly raised a hand to Keith’s cheek and tilted his head, frowning at the soft, imperfect skin. “O-oh! Sorry about that I…” Shiro blushed and stepped back a few paces from Keith. “I must’ve been mistaken.” Pidge was laughing into her hand at this point as Keith tried to will away the heat on his cheeks and compose himself.

“Okay...we need to start getting some answers.” he said as he addressed the group of Shiros, at least the half of them that were conscious after the fight.

“Yeah, like first of all, why??” Lance exclaimed.

“How?” Pidge cocked her head.

“Who?” Hunk questioned. The others silently turned to him with raised eyebrows. “Oh, right, they’re all Shiro. Got it, my bad…” Hunk fiddled with his fingers as he slipped behind the rest of the team as they continued their interrogation.

Allura stepped up to face them next. “How is it all of you got onto this ship so quickly? Did you coordinate this with someone?”

“I wish I could tell you that but I don’t entirely remember.” white-haired Shiro confessed, Sven nodding in agreement.

The twisted Shiro let out an offended huff. “You really think I wanted to be here? I’m not exactly a team player. I’d rather die destroying this place with all of you in it than try to team up with this merry band of weaklings…” his glare fell to the Garrison Shiro, who was not entirely focused on the questions as he still needed time to take in his surroundings. It was too surreal for him to be truly aware of the present moment.

“So you don’t even know each other? You expect us to believe that ALL of you appeared on this ship at the same time and it wasn’t pre-planned?” Pidge narrowed her eyes at them.

Sven shrugged “Never seen these doppelgangers in my life, honest.”

“Perhaps some dark hex has been cast on us by a vengeful wiccan.” Jiro pondered.

“Okay, I’m gonna say no to that one. Anyone else know how they got here?” Matt asked. The five awake Shiros looked between one another and ultimately all shook their heads.

Hunk pulled himself away from the group when he saw something shift out of the corner of his eye. The smaller Shiro with the long hair was starting to twitch and attempted to pull himself up off the floor, his restrained hands making it unfairly difficult. The larger paladin grabbed a bowl of food goo and a tall glass of water from where he had set them down on his seat, crouching down beside the weak Shiro.

“Hey man, let me help you up…” Hunk pulled him up into a sitting position, letting him slightly lean on his shoulder as he untied his hands.

“Hunk, what are you doing?” Keith questioned with an annoyed groan.

“Guys, he’s malnourished! Trust me, I can tell when someone needs a little food goo to perk them up. Besides, he really saved our butts back there with that armband thingy.” Hunk huffed at Keith defiantly, borderline offended that anyone wouldn’t want him to feed their new guests. The Shiro mustered a hoarse ‘thank you’ before taking the offered bowl of food.

Pidge examined the aforementioned armband still locked onto the twisted Shiro’s arm, jumping back when the same Shiro whipped his head around in an attempt to bite her. “What is that thing anyway?”

“It...keeps my arm from being used as a weapon. They kept it on me while I was captured…” the malnourished Shiro coughed harshly after speaking. Hunk shushed him gently and placed the water in his hands before repeating what he said loud enough for the others to hear.

“Guess we should keep that one on him then…” Keith muttered, still uneasy as he looked at the twisted Shiro.

Garrison Shiro nudged Matt’s leg, a nervous twitch in his demeanor. Matt hummed as he got his attention and crouched down to hear him better. “What is it?”

The Garrison Shiro shifted awkwardly in his restraints, eyes still not entirely focused as they tried to survey everything that was happening. “Sorry Matt but, as I dreaming?” he sounded hopelessly lost, almost convinced that this was some lucid fantasy. Matt couldn’t help the amused smile that crept onto his face.

“Why? Do you think you are?” The Shiro thought for a moment

“Well...I remember you and I...we were selected to join the first mission to Kerberos. We went out to celebrate but everything...just goes dark from there, Then I woke up in this place.”

Matt’s eyes went wide at his realization. “Shiro? How old are you?” the question caught him off guard.

“Er...t-twenty three. Why?”

“Oh my god…”

“Matt? What is it?” Pidge asked as her brother stood back up.

“Guys...I think all these Shiro’s are from different points in time.”

“Wait seriously?? Time traveling Shiros?!” Lance exclaimed.

Pidge adjusted her glasses. “I guess that makes sense, we know what point in time these two are from…” she pointed to the Shiro still being fed by Hunk and the two Shiros she had knocked out. “...and this one doesn’t appear to have even gone to space yet.” Garrison Shiro shifted almost shyly as all eyes turned to him.

“Time travel, okay, I guess that’s a trope we haven’t dealt with yet. No biggie.” Hunk shrugged.

After a few more minutes of questioning the remaining two Shrios began to wake up, both groaning in pain from their respective bruises from Pidge’s bayard. “Shiro, are you alright?” Allura asked, crouching down beside their timeline’s Shiro.

“I’m fine, Princess…” both Shiros spoke in unison, snapping their heads up off the ground to look at each other and glare.

“Okay, okay, break it up you two. The last thing we need is two Shiros fighting.” Lance huffed as he stepped between them. Jiro straightened his spine as he commented on the situation.

“He speaks the truth! In a way, we are all brothers of the same guild. We must not fight amongst ourselves.”

Hunk giggled “Like some kinda Shiros only guild?”

“That actually brings up another issue. We can’t have six different people named Shiro and expect things not to get confusing.” Pidge said as she looked between the lineup of Shiros.

Garrison Shiro hunched one of his shoulders in an attempt to raise his hand for the other’s attention. “If it’s alright, I wouldn’t mind going back to being called Takashi.”

“Alright, that’s at least one down. What about the rest? Only one of them can actually be called Shiro.” Lance questioned.

“Should we just pick our own Shiro to be the one?” Allura asked.

The white-haired Shiro raised his hand to offer an answer. “I have a better idea…”

\-----------

Jiro looked up in awe as he was guided into the hangar of the Black lion along with the others, Matt keeping a hold on his bound wrists with one hand and Takashi’s with the other. “Such a majestic beast…”

“No kidding…” Takashi stood agape beside him, the two of them and Sven staying off to the side while the other five approached the lion.

“Spread them out a little farther. We need to know for sure which one the lion accepts.” Keith ordered as he moved the white-haired Shiro towards the far left wall.

“This is the most unbiased way to decide this. Thank you for trying it.” the Shiro smiled, slightly blowing his white tuft out of the way of his eyes. Keith blushed slightly and hid his face from view.

“Alright Black, who’s it gonna be?” Lance squirmed impatiently as he escorted their timeline’s Shiro to the center of the room. The silence was tense and appeared to last an eternity, Takashi physically jumping when the lion finally roared to life. The lion appeared to look over each of the potential paladins before them, the twisted Shiro growling back when its eyes fell upon him.

The eyes continued on, eventually stopping between two Shiros, the one from their timeline and the slightly younger one he had been fighting. Black slowly crouched in front of them, their tail swaying around the hangar, no one dared to breathe as their chin gradually lowered to the floor in front of their choice. Their timeline Shiro was frozen in shock, Black having bypassed him entirely for the other Shiro.

Pidge smiled up at him and fiddled with his restraints to unbind his wrists. “Well, that settles it. Congratulations, Shiro.” Shiro smiled back and reached up to gently pat Black’s snout, or at least as high up to its snout as he could reach. “Thank you…” Black purred in response.

Matt yelped slightly as Jiro slipped from his grip and dropped into a respectful kneel to honor the chosen Shiro. Takashi and Sven giggled, copying him in bowing to the one true Shiro. Shiro turned to his rejected counterpart and offered his hand. “Hey...no hard feelings?” the other smiled and showed his still bound wrists. “Would if I could.”

Shiro smiled back. “C’mon guys, you don’t have to keep their wrists bound like that.” Lance nodded and untied the other Shiro, smiling as both shared a friendly handshake. The other Shiros were soon released as well, Allura hesitating slightly but untying the twisted Shiro as well.

He rubbed the sore joints of his flesh wrist and huffed out a customary ‘thanks’, maintaining a calm facade before turning on his heel and charging to attack Shiro. Shiro grabbed the artificial arm lunging for him and turned on his heel, using the other’s momentum to throw him forward and onto the floor.

“Listen, I’m not going to ask what your problem is but that’s not how things are going to work around here,” Shiro spoke calmly while the twisted Shiro struggled in his grasp. “If you want to stay here you’re going to be civil. You don’t have to like it but if we’re all here for a reason you can’t expect to find it by killing us.” After a few more minutes of struggling, he growled in defeat.

“Fine! But you’re right, I’m not going to **_fucking_ ** like it.” A gasp of horror and disgust came from Matt as he rushed to place his hands over Pidge’s ears. Pidge groaned at her brother’s reaction. “Oh, for fuck’s sake…” Another gasp came from Matt as he glared at the man currently pinned to the floor. “Don’t corrupt the child, you monster!” the twisted Shiro groaned in annoyance as he was lifted back up to his feet.

\-----------

Lance sat down on the top of the couch in the lounge as everyone settled in, most of the Shiros taking residence on the floor. “Okay, so about half of you have names now. That only leaves you four.” Hunk gestured to three Shiros in front of him and the one still leaning against him for support. The malnourished one lifted his head, his voice now loud enough for the others to hear now that he was less dehydrated.

“I remember...something about a...Project Kuron...maybe that could be my name.”

“Project Kuron?” Pidge raised an eyebrow.

“Just Kuron, then maybe you could start calling me...Kuro.” The proper timeline Shiro spoke.

Kuron nodded slightly. “I can agree to that…”

“Doesn’t that seem a little redundant to you?” Lance asked.

“Well, we are redundant when compared to each other. I don’t see anything wrong with it.” Shiro shrugged and turned to the twisted Shiro. “What about you?” He snarled quietly in response, his stance on the couch wide and intimidating.

“Well, since we’re still going with this Kuron nonsense how about Akuro or something…” he shrugged dismissively.

“Hey! That’s pretty good.” Matt smiled.

“Shut up…it’s stupid.” Akuro huffed.

Allura glanced at the white-haired Shiro with a kind smile. “And what about you?”

“Well we have Shiro, Kuro, Jiro, so how about….” Lance hummed as he tried to think of another name that rhymed.

“Ryou” Keith offered. Ryou turned to face Keith and smiled brightly.

“That sounds perfect. Thank you, Keith.”

“So, what are we going to do about rooms? Sorry to say but seems a little careless to leave all of these mysterious Shiros on their own every night.” Matt pointed out. Hunk yawned at the thought of finally getting some sleep. “Yeah, he has a point.”

“Well I mean, Sven could stay in my room.” Lance blushed as his brain had to sprint to catch up with his dumbass of a mouth. “I mean it doesn’t HAVE to be Sven but I’m just saying, most of us have the space to have one stay with each of us.” Lance could hear his own mind slow clapping him for that “smooth save”.

Sven bent forward from his spot on the couch to look at Lance directly without being obscured but Hunk and Kuron. “You want to sleep together?” he asked with an innocent smile.

Lance’s face grew even hotter in embarrassment. “What?! No! No no no, I meant everyone could keep track of a Shiro for the night while we slept.”

“Yah, sleeping in a room together. It’s a good plan.”

Lance sunk into the couch with an embarrassed groan, he could hear Pidge and Hunk snickering near him. “Okay, you really have to work on your phrasing…”

“Well, regardless of phrasing it’ll have to do,” Coran said as he stood. “Everyone pair up and get some rest. Shiro, er...the one we’re calling Shiro, since the Black Lion decided to choose you, you’re the one we can trust best on their own so you can look after one as well.” Shiro nodded as everyone was making cursory glances to decide which Shiro they would take, assuming they didn’t already have one in mind.

“But before all that, I’m not entirely sure Akuro is safe left with just one of us to keep him under control. We should keep him detained while he remains a threat, at least for the nights.” Shiro pointed out.

“You could also address him directly while he’s in the damn room.” Akuro snapped back.

“I’m sorry but until you stop trying to attack us you’ll need to have a few more restraints. One of the cells should be just fine.”

Kuro stood and set a hand on Akuro’s shoulder. “I’ll take him down there. We should check on Lotor anyway.” Allura stood as well as Akuro casually tried to bite Kuro’s fingers. “I’ll come with you. He seems like quite a handful.”

\-----------

The elevator ride was quiet and uncomfortable, Akuro staring in disinterest out at the walls of small cells. “So you still got Lotor here, hm?”

“What business is it of yours?” Allura snapped as another platform rose to the meet them, a small circular cell at the end of it

A few meters below them another cell sat in use. Kuro’s eyes fell to the clear window of the cell where Lotor slept. He could just barely see his content resting face, long white hair flowing across and hang down from the bench he was lying across, and his restrained arms adorably tucked against his chest. Kuro looked back up once he was no longer at a good angle to see him, a faint dust of warmth on his cheeks. “Keep in mind we’re still willing to trust you, Akuro. Shape up a little and we won’t have to do this.” he reminded him as he led him into the cell.

“Yeah, yeah…” Akuro huffed and sat down, giving both of them the stink eye as the door shut.

\-----------

“I can walk just fine Hunk…” Hunk gave Kuron a skeptical pout as he carried him towards his room.

“I dunno man, those bandages around your leg says you shouldn’t be on your feet.” Kuron sighed but let Hunk carry him like a porcelain doll. “You can have the bed tonight. We’ll get you in a healing pod tomorrow to take care of that wound.” Hunk turned sideways and shimmied through the doorway, being careful not to bang Kuron’s foot on the frame.

Kuron let out an involuntary sigh as he was laid on the bed, the plushness of the bed was no better than an average mattress but at that moment his body was coming into contact with the softest thing he’d touched in months. His frame sunk into the sheets as Hunk gently tugged the blanket out from under him and laying it over him.

Kuron looked up through his tangled hair, his eyelids struggling to stay up, letting out a confused hum as hunk started laying out a few extra pillows on the floor. “You’re letting me have the whole bed?” he’d been ready to squirm his way into the corner to give Hunk a spot to lay on as well.

“Yeah, you need it. Just get some sleep. It’s been a long day…” Hunk curled up on the pile of extra bedding like a large dog, sparing one more glance at Kuron to make sure he was comfortable. Kuron’s breathing had already slowed, showing he had already drifted to sleep.

\-----------

“So the lions are also ships?”

“Yup”

“And they turn into a giant robot?”

“Uh-huh”

“And I started leading this whole thing?!” Matt smiled at Takashi’s awed and confused look.

“I know, it’s pretty crazy when you think about it.” They sat cross-legged on the bed of the spare room Matt was staying in. Matt’s armor and Takashi’s coat were tossed aside so they could lay down comfortably when the time came to sleep, though it was unlikely they would actually sleep since Takashi was still full of questions about his current situation.

“You’ve gotten really tall out here. I used to joke about being able to drop kick you.”

Matt laughed “Oh yeah I remember that! Man, I was a twig back the Garrison.”

“Yeah but now you’re this rebel space fighter helping giant robots save the universe. That’s unbelievable!” Matt chest puffed up slightly with pride.

“Plus I got these guns now.” Matt flexed with a cocky smirk until a loud bang came to the door of the room.

“Go to sleep, you massive nerds!” a cranky and tired Pidge yelled from the other side of the door, Matt immediately deflating in fear from the loud noise.

Takashi laughed at the reaction, it was an innocent, unrestrained giggle that Matt couldn’t help but join. His eyes watched Takashi’s joyful face, not even trying to reconstruct into a straight line. He wasn’t trying to be serious or maintain his leader facade. There wasn’t a single worry in his mind right now. It was strange to think about how long it had been since he heard that laugh.

\-----------

Kuro let out a tired groan as he parted ways with Allura and stepped into his room, raising an eyebrow when he noticed Shiro on the end of his bed. Shiro glanced up as Kuro walked into the room. “Sorry, I guess this is technically your room.”

Kuro sighed and stepped into the bathroom to get ready for bed. “It’s alright...we agreed to pair up so I don’t mind…” Kuro’s shoulders sank as he brushed his teeth, his posture straightening again when he heard Shiro walk to the doorway.

“So, do you want to take the bed? It’s a bit small for both of us…”

Kuro spit out the toothpaste and huffed, Shiro’s presence alone beginning to irritate him. “No, just take it. I’m too tired to really care.”

Shiro’s voice stuttered slightly at Kuro’s dismissive tone. “O-oh… Thanks, I’ll see you in the morning then.” Shiro pushed off the door frame of the bathroom and slipped into the bed, not paying any more mind to Kuro.

As Kuro left the bathroom a sharp pain pierced his forehead. The groan he let out sounded more like a growl as he brought a hand to his head. The headache almost seemed to tell him that sleep was a fruitless effort tonight as he sank to the floor beside the bed, head lolling onto his bent knees as he tried to ignore how sluggish the clock seemed to be.


	3. Chapter 3

Keith stepped into the kitchen, the overwhelming scent of coffee hitting his nostrils. Although coffee beans weren’t available to them, they had managed to find a substitute that would keep the team awake in the morning. He let out a tired groan in response to Hunk’s cheerful “good morning” and slumped into his chair at the table.

“Yeah, I feel you. Last night was pretty rough.” Hunk set a cup of coffee in front of the half-asleep man with a sympathetic pat to his shoulder.

“I’m sorry you’re so tired, dar- uh, Keith. I hope I didn’t disturb your sleep at all last night.” Ryou said, his face heating slightly from the embarrassing slip up. Thankfully, Keith was too tired to really notice.

“Ryou, you want a cup too? Since we have so many Shiros around I made a ton extra.” Hunk asked as he made his way back to the kitchen counter.

“I’m fine, thanks. I’ve actually been sleeping pretty well as of late.”

Keith sighed with a silent blessing that Ryou was a heavier sleeper than the other Shiros. They had agreed to share the bed last night but it only resulted in Keith squirming awkwardly in the few hours they had to sleep. Something about Ryou’s demeanor around him made his chest twist awkwardly. It felt comforting, yet unreal and that duality had kept him wide awake throughout the night. He sipped his coffee and tried to forget it.

“Hunk, weren’t you looking after Kuron? Where is he?”

“Oh, he was still really exhausted so I let him sleep in. I doubt he’ll be up anytime soon.”

Allura was next to step into the kitchen for breakfast, barely getting a greeting in before Jiro wandered in as well.

“This castle is quite the labyrinth.” he announced, clearly in awe of its scale.

“Well maybe if you waited for me that wouldn’t have taken so long.” Pidge grumbled, glasses resting atop her messy mop of hair. Jiro had unfortunately not waited for Pidge to crawl off her sleeping spot on the floor next to her laptop. Instead he opted to explore the castle on his own after he awoke and did his morning stretches, causing him to get horribly lost until Pidge found him again.

“You seem well rested, Jiro.” Allura commented.

“That was the most comfortable cot I’ve ever slept on. I never felt bet-!” his words were cut short when Matt’s bow staff smacked him in the face.

“Whoops! Sorry!” he dropped the staff with a sheepish look.

Ryou suppressed the urge to giggle, “Matt, what are you doing?”

Takashi poked his head into the room with a shy smile. “That was my fault, I wanted to see some of his tricks on the way to breakfast.” he turned to Jiro. “Are you okay?” Jiro gave a hearty laugh.

“No harm done, my brother! Come, let us eat.” Allura couldn't help but smile at the positive attitude as he lead Takashi to sit down at the table.

“Matt, are you already causing trouble?” Shiro smirked at his friend as he entered the room. Matt gave a suspiciously drawn out ‘no' in response as Shiro joined the others at the table.

“Where’s Kuro?” Pidge asked, voice muffled from her mouth being already stuffed with food goo.

“I sent him down to get Akuro and check on Lotor. He should be back any minute.” Allura replied.

\-----------

Kuro crossed the catwalk to Lotor’s cell, his stern look masking his lack of sleep. Lotor was waiting expectantly, his posture straight and his face unable to resist curling into a coy smirk. “I heard things were quite chaotic after you put me here.”

Kuro raised an eyebrow at the comment before looking up to Akuro’s cell. He was also wide awake and slumped against the wall, his flesh arm tapping across his artificial one in an impatient manner. “That one’s been complaining all morning.”

“Whatever he told you, it’s not any of your business.” Kuro stated directly, opening the cell door briefly to give him his breakfast.

“You seem irritated. They do say the hardest enemy to face is yourself.” Lotor shifted to a more relaxed position as he took his breakfast, the cocky smirk never leaving his face. His stupid, gorgeous face. Even in these dire conditions he still looked absolutely radiant. How could Zarkon of all people pass on any attractive genes to his offspring? Lotor cocked his head a bit when he didn’t get a response. “What?”

Kuro shook his head a little as he planted himself back in reality. “Like I said, it’s not your business to know.” he turned on his heel to keep Lotor from seeing his burning cheeks, he really needed to get a grip.

Akuro watched the exchange with only the faintest of curiosity, cocking an eyebrow at how stupidly Kuro’s face turned pink and contorted in a nervous embarrassment. Embarrassment was right, these guys were pathetic...

“Hey, Akuro, can you control yourself enough to eat with us?” Kuro knew it was a long shot but he was keeping his promise that they were giving Akuro a chance to prove himself.

The man glared back in response but mulled over the idea, as long as these people stayed relatively quiet it would be a bit better than staying stuck in a cell, ‘a bit’ being an extreme exaggeration. Akuro huffed and stood up in the cell. “Fine, but only so I can stretch my legs…”

Kuro smiled softly and walked a bit faster to let him out so he wouldn’t keep the snappy man waiting. “Come on, they’re all waiting on you.”  
“Eh, fuck off…”

\-----------

Sven kicked his legs lazily in the air as he laid on the bed, eye following Lance through the half-opened door to the bathroom. The Cuban boy yawned adorably as his slender hands shuffled through his crowded countertop, the oversized sleeves of his bathrobe making a few taller bottles spin and wobble as he picked through what he had.

He slowly peeled the face mask from his skin and tossed it into the waste bin, gently inspecting the soft skin for any imperfections. He added a few dabs of moisturizer across his temples and few sprays of a dry shampoo across his scalp, the color in his hair brightening ever so slightly as it was applied.

“So you do this every day?” Sven asked, tilting his head as he watching the intricate process. Lance stiffened slightly as he massaged the spray into his hair. 

“Yeah, I uh...stick to a pretty strict regimen.” Lance centered his focus on drilling the shampoo into his hair with his fingers. “Hard to save the universe unless you look good, y’know?” Lance gave a light-hearted chuckle as he brushed his hair back out of the tangled mess he made.

Sven laughed back “Well, I dunno. You seem to do just fine without all dat stuff.” Lance felt a shiver race up his back, his brain short-circuiting for a moment.

“Heh, c-c’mon Sven, you’re exaggerating.” he kept his face turned away and coughed to try and get rid of the high pitched squeak that had come out with his words, all the products in his bathroom couldn’t hide the immense amount of red spreading across his face.

Sven put his legs down and swung them off the edge of the bed, stretching a little as he stood up. “If you’re done let’s go eat, hm?” Lance swept his products back into the drawers under his sink and finally left the bathroom.

“Right, I’ll show you to the kitchen.”

\-----------

Kuron stirred when a few soft knocks came to the door, the dim lights of the room still seeming too bright for him. He hesitated to move, his mind still on alert for new threats that had come to end him in his sleep. For the briefest moment, he felt the biting cold of his ice coated prison he had been in, his skin irritated by the cold metal cuffs suspending him in the air. He flinched slightly as the cold receded, replaced with the soft warmth of the blanket resting over him and the cushy pillow supporting his head. He wasn’t in that hellscape anymore. He was home and safe...

“Kuron? Buddy? You awake?” Hunk asked quietly as he stepped into the room, the tangled mop of black hair on the pillow the only part of Kuron that wasn’t obscured by the bedding.

Kuron reluctantly shifted, his muscles still sore from their lack of use, until he was facing Hunk. He opened his eyes a little wider to confirm to him that he was actually awake, just not in the mood to move all that much. Hunk found a place on the bed that wasn’t taken up by Kuron’s curled up body and set the tray in his hands down after making sure nothing would spill. On the platter was a bowl of food good, a glass of water, and a medical kit.

“You’ve been in there for 12 hours now. You should eat something and maybe move around a bit.” Hunk’s face was lined with worry.

Kuron’s voice came to him as a hoarse squeak before forming into words. “Thanks, Hunk. I am feeling a bit better after that…” He swung his legs over to the edge of the bed, careful to avoid hitting the tray, and winced slightly as he unfurled his injured leg. He was hesitant to reveal what kind of state his wound was in. He hadn’t checked it since he cauterized it since there wouldn’t have been much he could do if it had gotten worse.

“Hang on a sec. I’ll get you some clean clothes and I can take a look at the wound.” Hunk said, turning on his heel to search his room for spare clothes.

Kuron smiled softly, taking small, slow bites of the food beside him. It was relieving to have his stomach filled again, even just a little. Hunk was back at his side a few bites later, a white tank top and a pair of black pants in hand. “They’re really oversized but they should work for now, hopefully.”

Hunk gave a shy smile as Kuron took the clothes from his hands. Kuron slowly rose to his feet, Hunk holding his hands out in case he fell, not fully trusting the strength of his legs. Kuron smiled thankfully at Hunk as he shuffled into the bathroom to clean up and change. “Just let me know if you need help or anything. I’ll be right outside.” Hunk said reassuringly.

Kuron turned on the shower, testing the temperature of the water with his hand as he stripped. He sighed in relief as he peeled the filthy bodysuit off of him, the skin underneath pale and clammy. In his time stranded not one corner of the suit had been safe from stains, whether it be outside dirt or his own sweat and blood. On top of the rips gained from the crash the heels had worn down to nothing and the light but useless overshirt had been torn to utter shreds.

Kuron slipped into the shower, keeping one hand on the metal bar that traced the wall. His wound still ached considerably, he’d need to ask for some painkillers later.

He hissed as droplets hit the bandaged wound directly, the force alone being enough to sting the damaged skin. He turned his back to the shower head and relaxed in the warm water, waiting a few minutes before he finally moved to clean himself, hands keeping a tentative distance from the bandages.

Hunk paced his small room, his mind reverting to the worst case scenario of Kuron collapsing in the shower. With all that hard tile and metal he’d crack his head open for sure. If he had anyone around to vent to about this they’d say he was worrying too much. Yes, he was a worrier. Thank you Captain Obvious but you kind of missed the point. His fears were finally quelled when he heard the man’s bare feet quietly slapping against the tile floor, the door opening just a few minutes later.

A white towel rested on Kuron’s damp hair, the large tank top only barely covering his chest and the pants hiding the balls of his feet with the oversized legs. He felt a bit underdressed in the borrowed clothes but they were comfortable. He settled back down onto the bed and Hunk knelt beside him.

“It was this leg, right?” Kuron nodded at the leg Hunk was gesturing to and leaned back as Hunk gradually rolled the pant leg up until the bandages were in view. With delicate hands, Hunk removed the bandages and inspected the wound. “Man, you are so lucky this didn’t get infected…” Hunk muttered as he grabbed this disinfectant to be safe. Kuron let out a dry laugh, that was the first time he’d consider his situation lucky.

He let out a quiet hiss as Hunk applied the disinfectant, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the bed.

“Sorry! Sorry..” Hunk yelped and scrambled to get the roll of fresh bandages.

“It’s okay...I’m fine…” Kuron murmured, unsure if he was trying to convince Hunk or himself. He sighed as the pressure from the new bandages helped to lessen the pain and graciously took a pill to numb the pain further when Hunk offered him one.

“You need anything else? I’d say stay off your feet but knowing you, you’ll be on the training deck within the hour…” Hunk tried not to worry about that possibility.

“Actually…” Kuron hummed softly and glanced back the soft unmade bedding.

“I think I’d rather rest a little more…”


	4. Chapter 4

Shiro wandered the halls of the castle as he tried to recall the last few days, things would be so much easier if his memory stopped blanking every time he was violently thrown into a new location. He’d gained what information he could about the current state of the coalition from Allura and Keith but both had eventually left to deal with their unofficial designated copies of himself.

Shiro found himself passing one of the smaller hangars that Pidge had claimed as her personal lab, with the altean ships that used to fill the area long gone, the space had been quickly overrun with computers, junk parts, and experimental tech. From what Shiro could remember, it had only gotten larger with time. Pidge wandered around a table in the middle of the room, balancing a laptop in one hand to document her findings as she poked and prodded at Akuro’s arm. She had originally been asked to simply reinforce the armband blocking the quintessence in his arm from being used to weaponize it.

“What the hell are you even doing?” Akuro growled, wrists handcuffed to the table with only enough slack so Pidge could fuss with his cyborg attachments.

“Just relax, I wanna see how different your arm is from the data I already have.” Pidge ignored his intimidating snarls and continued to examine the arm. She reached down and grabbed a cord from a tangled mess of wires as she was finally able to pry open the outer plating of his inner forearm. Akuro continued with his irritated noises and murmured profanities as Pidge started connecting wires to the inside of his arm.

Shiro watched the whole thing unfold, inching into the room ever so slowly just in case Akuro tried lashing out again. Pidge looked up when she heard Shiro’s slowly footsteps.  
“Oh, hey Shiro.” Pidge greeted with a smile as Akuro glared childishly. Shiro smiled back, only calm about the situation because Pidge didn’t seem concerned being close to Akuro.

“How are you two holding up?” Shiro asked, stepping closer but keep a fair distance to allow Pidge to work.

“Get this gremlin off me,” Akuro growled.

“Quit whining I’ll be done in a sec... “ Pidge muttered as she attached the wires to her laptop. “How’s your head, Shiro?”

“My head?” Shiro raised an eyebrow, while there was still a mark it didn’t hurt enough for him to notice.

“I hit you pretty hard with my bayard. Sorry about that by the way… I didn’t know if you were evil or…” Shiro placed his hand on her small shoulder.

"It’s okay...you did the right thing in your position.” Pidge grinned proudly up at him as he ruffled her hair.

Akuro gagged at the sight. “Get a room…"

“Akuro that’s really immature…” Shiro sighed and pulled away to let Pidge finish her analysis.

“Alright! That should be everything I need.” Pidge unhooked the wires and set her laptop aside before unlocking Akuro’s cuffs. Shiro was quick to move, grabbing Akuro’s arm only moments before it started to move towards Pidge, a violent intention already crystal clear. She only managed to blink before Shiro yanked Akuro back and pinned him to the table.

“You’re really not gonna learn are you?” Shiro sighed, double checking that the armband had already been reinforced.

“Fuck y-!” Akuro growled out a few more muffled profanities as Shiro shoved his face into the table.

“And watch your language. You’re still expected to have some standards…” he scolded, holding Akuro down easily for as long as he would need to. Pidge’s body went lax again as she calmed down, having not even realized she had been so tense.

“Thanks, Shiro…” she muttered, her voice squeakier than she meant it to be.

Shiro nodded at her before pulled Akuro back upright. “We’re keeping you on a very loose leash. Don’t make us have to tighten it, Akuro.” Akuro huffed and squirmed to make Shiro let go.

“Yeah, I get it. Just keep that brat off my arm.” he shut the underplate of his arm and stood up, heading for the door. “I’ll be on the training deck if you wanna babysit me.” Shiro huffed and leaned against the table, Pidge leaping up to sit next to him.

“Are you alright, Pidge.” Shiro set a gentle hand on her, his larger fingers gently massaging her shoulder.

“Yeah, ‘m okay. He just startled me…”

Shiro let her go, satisfied with the answer.

“Do you really think he can be better..?”

Shiro shrugged. “It’s hard to say but...something tells me that he doesn’t really want to destroy us.”

“Just a something?”

Another shrug came from the man.

“He is me. I at least have an idea what’s going on in his head.”

“Welp, at least we can count on you to keep him in line.” Pidge smiled and lightly punched Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro briefly smiled back.

“Just be careful, he’s still a pretty big wild card.”

“Eh, not so wild if you can predict his attacks” Pidge hopped off the table with a confident smirk.

“Again, he’s literally me. Don’t get too cocky, Pidge”

\-----------  
  
Allura stopped in her tracks as she heard clanking armor behind her, not even surprised when she saw Jiro following her a few paces back. “Did you need something, Jiro?” Allura cocked her head, even if she could identify who it was without turning around it was still a mystery why he was following her at all.  
“I wanted to formally apologize for my attempted attack the previous night. I hope you do not hold any ill will towards me.”

Allura resisted the urge the roll her eyes, big emphasis on ‘attempt’ right there. “It was no trouble, really. Is that all?”

“I was going to ask if you require my assistance with anything. A paladin is never satisfied until their debt has been repaid.” Jiro was moments away from dropping into a formal bow again.

“There’s really no need for-”

“I insist!”

“Wasn’t Pidge the one looking after you?”

“The little one ordered me to leave whilst she worked.”

Allura let out a soft, defeated groan and turned back around. “Fine… I’ll find something for you to do. But after that, your debt will have been repaid, alright?”

“Understood, madam…”

Allura turned on her heel and led Jiro down the hall. “The castle’s been acting up in a few areas since you arrived. I wanted to run a few diagnostics.” Jiro nodded in, what Allura hoped was an understanding. If he came from a world similar to the Monsters and Mana game did he even know how most technology worked? All previous signs appeared to point to ‘no’.

They approached the main generator, the core in the center lighting the room with a bright glow. Jiro stared in awe at it, nearly reaching to touch it as Allura approached the control console, before deciding against it. His armor almost seemed to hum being so close to the energy of the generator. Allura knelt down beside the console and opened the front panel.

“So what do you ask of me, Princess?”Jiro asked, standing wide and confidently as Allura began to squirm into the console.

“Watch the generator for fluctuations. Tell me when it stabilizes.” Jiro nodded and trained his eye on the glowing energy before him. As she began to fuss with the inner mechanisms the energy core shrunk slightly before returning to full size and shrinking again. It continued to pulse in an almost calming manner until an adjustment from Allura caused it to grow larger than it had been earlier.

Allura slid out from inside the console and jumped back. “Something’s wrong, we should keep our distance for a moment,” she spoke calmly as she stepped away. Jiro followed her but stayed as a barrier between the core and her. Suddenly energy began arcing out of the core in all directions, a blast heading straight for them as well. Jiro jumped into action, leaping backwards and pulling his shield from behind his back. He blocked the energy from going straight into Allura, screaming out as it coursed through him instead.

When the core settled back down Jiro collapsed on the floor, Allura rushing to his side to help. “Jiro, are you alright?”

Jiro groaned softly in response but smiled up at her. “Just doing my duty, Princess...you’re safe…”

Allura smiled warmly at the gesture. “Let’s get you to a healing pod after this…” she rose to her feet and returned to the console to finish her tests, not having the heart to tell him that her suit was insulated.

She hummed as she looked over the console again. “It appears there was just some excess power in the system. That purge passed it all through,” she explained as she shut the door on the console and returned to Jiro’s side. Despite the heavy armor adorning a fairly heavy man, she easily picked him up into her arms and carried him out of the room.

\-----------

Keith walked behind Ryou as they wandered the castle. He wouldn’t say why but, Ryou had asked if they could just walk around the castle for a while since both were more than a little hesitant to use the training deck while Akuro was in there. Ryou’s steps were slow and casual, simply taking in the atmosphere of the ship.

Keith’s eyes drifted from his platinum hair to his right shoulder, a faint blue glow replacing his old prosthetic that most of the other Shiros still possessed. He bit his lip as he debated asking about it. Shiro was always so quiet about his trauma, yet so casual about it if the subject ever came up. He never knew what his thought process was whenever he was asked about his time as a prisoner or his flesh arm being cut off. Because of all of this, he hesitated to ask why he looked so different compared to the others.

“Keith?” Keith shook his head and snapped back to reality. When he looked up he could see Ryou was much farther ahead of him down the hallway. “Am I walking too fast?” Ryou asked as he turned and started to close the large gap between them.

“No, sorry, just...kinda fell into my own head, I guess…” Keith mumbled, hoping he didn’t sound too dismissive and tip Ryou off to something being wrong. Unfortunately, Keith was an absolutely terrible liar, especially to any version of Shiro.

“Is something wrong, Keith?” he asked. He always asked even though he very blatantly knew. Keith tensed and his face briefly flushed as Ryou laid his hand on Keith’s shoulder, large fingers giving it a gentle squeeze. Keith finally found his voice after a moment.

“I’m fine...just...I was wondering about how you lost your arm. The second time you lost it, I guess.” he quickly clarified. Ryou smiled in relief that it wasn’t anything serious and turned to show Keith his right side.

“It’s the third time technically. I had one before I appeared here but I guess it didn’t come with me.” Ryou let out an honest laugh at the situation. You’d think losing a limb would be a traumatic experience but after the third time, it wasn’t all that hard to laugh at.

Keith quietly joined in, the small laugh already helping to brighten his spirits. “Okay, what about the second time you lost it then.”

Ryou forced his mouth not to curl into a frown. What happened that day was a jumbled mess of memories in his head but none that he remembered were all that pleasant, with one exception. “It was...lost in a fight. Cut it clean off. I’m only glad they didn’t get my head too.” Ryou attempted to laugh about the story again but this time it felt more like shallow puffs of air than an honest chuckle.

Keith seemed to notice the change in atmosphere. “Sorry, I know I probably should be asking about stuff from the future…”

“Oh darling, I understand your curiosity. I just need to be careful with what I say.”

Keith tried not to stammer and blush. “You...you did that again…”

Ryou blushed in embarrassment and took a few steps from Keith so he didn’t lean in for a kiss on accident. “Sorry...it’s just a habit of mine. Near the end of the war, we started calling each other by nicknames. You called me Starlight because of my new hair…”

“Starlight?” Keith pondered the name for a moment and smiled at Ryou. “I like that…”

Ryou smiled back and offered his arm as he turned to continue their walk. Keith felt heat dust his cheeks but his linked their arms regardless and continued to walk with him in the calming silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it's been a while! I was dumb and left this chapter nearly completed and sitting on my computer for months while I worked on other projects.
> 
> Also, as of August the spelling of Gyro's name has been changed to Jiro due to the Coalition Handbook officially changing the spelling. I went back and changed it in the previous chapters but let me know if I missed anything.


End file.
